[Ed note: Sorry about the unavailable web page and the late news update; even the mighty IMG is nt immune to a server crash!]

Two months ago we announced the beginning of the development period for the Mac Demos HQ 64k Graphics Demo Contest. Today we announce the beginning of the voting period which will last from May 1st through the 7th. All demos are now available for download at: http://www.stoneentertainment.com/contest.

A graphics demo is a mathematically based artistic expression. A multimedia computer program designed to generate and display animation's on the screen in real-time as a demonstration (or demo) of the programmer's skill and imagination.

This contest was conceived with the intention of expanding the realms of Macintosh development by bringing together graphically adept programmers from around the world in an all out battle of the fittest. It has achieved just that.

Over the past two months 16 talented individuals from the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia have developed graphics demos to enter into the contest. Thousands of individuals have come to visit the contest web site to learn about graphics demos and link to the many resources available. And many Macintosh developers have voiced their appreciation for the contest which will help to spawn interest and investment in Macintosh software development. With an overwhelming amount of support we are proud to report that the contest has been an enormous success!

Not all of our contestants have been able to meet the deadline, but the majority have. Today everyone is invited to download the demos and vote! Again, the voting period is from May 1st through the 7th. Results will be promptly posted on the 8th.

The graphics "demo" is a long-standing tradition in programming; the very first games and screensavers came from the demo tradition, created by programmers attempting to find useless but entertaining ways to show off their coding skills. In the early days of demos, on such laughably primitive hardware as Commodore 64 and first-generation Amiga machines, memory and storage space were very tight, so compactness of code was paramount—hence the 64k demo, small enough to fit in the limited memory of those machines. Even when 1 and 2 meg systems became popular, up to today's RAM-devouring systems, the 64k demo is still considered to be the true programmer's contest, requiring native code (assembler) and tight programming skills to pack the biggest punch into the smallest package.

So stop by the contest page and download the work of future Mac software (and hopefully game) programmers. I suggest that you sincerely read the readme files that come with each demo, and expect a few crashes; these demos don't have much margin for error. If you want to find out more about demos in general, go to PC Demos Explained; if you want to start collecting or viewing more 64k demos, grab a copy of Virtual PC and head over to the Hornet Demo Archive and start downloading. [Eilers]





Westlake Update on Unreal 224 Patch
Mark Adams of Westlake Software, the company behind the Macintosh version of Unreal, has released a statement regarding Unreal version 224, just released for the PC over the weekend:

The new 224 patch has just been released on the PC, so we wanted to let people know where the Mac version stands. We have been working on the Mac code, updating to an internal 223 version. This hopefully will make the transition to 224 smoother, although we don't know how much code has been changed from 223 to 224 (since that includes nearly 50 internal versions at Epic it could be a lot). We should have the 224 code in the next day or so, and then we will begin to rev the engine from 223 to 224.

Of course as usual, the patch hits us at fairly bad time. We working feverishly to get Falcon 4 out the door this week, finalizing demos of Total Annihilation and Unreal Tournament to show at E3 next week, and of course a large portion of our staff will be gone to E3 next week.

Best guess is it will probably take a few weeks to get the 224 patch up and stable on the Mac, so we're aiming for sometime around the weekend of the 22nd. Check the web site for status updates. Please don't e-mail us asking for status, it just takes time away from actually working on the patch!

A mix of bad news and good; the bad news is that once again, for a little while, Mac players will have a tough time finding Internet servers as all the PC servers switch to the incompatible 224 version of Unreal. The good news is, by the time we get it all the bugs will have been shaken out of the patch. Now if only someone would create a patch to bring back the old Unreal sounds... If you want to find out more about the 224 patch, visit the Unreal Technology Page. [Eilers]





Bungie Bundles Myths Together for One Low Price
Jim Ruiz, Direct Sales Magnate with Bungie Software, has decided to be incredibly generous for the Month of May. He has managed to convince the corporate empire to offer a bundle of Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth 2: Soulblighter for just $39.95, with a free Myth 2 T-shirt!

"In honor of my second anniversary as Direct Sales Magnate with Bungie Software, I'm (Jim Ruiz) offering a special deal on two of the greatest games of all time - Myth: The Fallen Lords, and Myth 2: Soulblighter. Check it out; I managed to convince The Man that we could afford to sell both games together for just $39.95 during the entire month of May! Plus, since the second anniversary is traditionally the “cotton” anniversary, I’ll throw in a FREE 100% cotton Myth II T-Shirt! (while supplies last...)

"Note: This special includes the complete, boxed version of both Myth: TFL and Myth II. Both games are Mac OS / Windows hybrids, and will work with either platform."

So if you've been tempted to enter the world of Myth but have never taken the plunge, here's an excellent opportunity to catch up. If you already have these two great games then why not subscribe to IMG for the same price as these two games - this will get you all of the demos and shareware we can fit onto a CD for an entire year! Already a subscriber? Well...you could always renew :D [Simon]





Petition to Bring 3DO Games to the Mac
IMG Reader Mark Kot had a problem: his favorite New World Computing titles haven't shown up on the Mac. He decided to mail 3DO (publisher of Heroes of Might and Magic, StarFighter) who was the publishing arm and is now the owner of NWC. His e-mail produced an interesting result, as you will see! Read on for details:

From Mark Kot to IMG:

I've been playing a series of games for the Mac for many years now called Might & Magic. I've purchased at least 5 different versions of the game. Originally it was developed by New World Computing, which is now a part of the 3do company. I haven't seen a newer version for the Mac in quite some time, so I decided to write 3do and inquire about the latest version for the Mac. The following is the response I received from 3do:

From 3DO to Mark Kot:

This is in response to your recent e-mail to 3DO Customer Support. We have no plans to port to the Mac OS. However, there is an online petition to change this decision located at this address: http://oink-industries.com/personal/petition/petitionbook.cgi. Please tell your friends! That isn't to say there's no desire to port to the Mac here. The problem is that we're a publicly held company, and have to justify our decisions. Frankly, the Mac market hasn't performed nearly as well as the PC market for us. Hopefully, Apple will make good on the promise to be game-friendly and we'll be forced to reconsider. That would please me no end, as I'm not happy about needing to consider getting a Wintel box for home because that's how I can do my industry research. I've been looking VERY longingly at the new G3's, but can't justify it yet. Sorry for the inclusion of the personal, but I wanted to be clear that there's not necessarily an anti-Mac bias here (on the whole). In fact, 3DO used to have Macs exclusively.

CS-Ernie, 3DO Customer Support

Another from 3DO to Mark Kot:

Please make sure that people make specific mention of which 3DO (which includes New World) titles they would like to see ported to the Mac OS. Our website is http://www.3do.com, if you want to include a link.

Well, two lessons learned here: never count a former Mac publisher out of the game, and don't be afraid to e-mail any game company and ask them what their current/future Mac plans are. Congratulations to Mark Kot for his Mac-activism, and much thanks to 3DO for keeping the Mac flame burning. Stop by that petition and make your voice heard! Adn feel free to follow Mark's example and bombard any and every game company with polite, to-the-point inquiries about future Mac games. [Eilers]





IMG Shareware Spotlight
Inside Mac Games' Web site has many facets: news, previews, reviews, features, demos, and updaters among them. However, a little known fact is that IMG also maintains a shareware department. Every week, a few shareware games are selected - some new, some not - and featured. If you're looking for a good diversion, this is an excellent place to start.

This week's selection totals at three. First is a preview version of Native Assault, a throwback to the classic Missile Command by Adrenaline Entertainment. They're currently looking for feedback on how to improve the game before final release. Next is Quarter Note Software's role-playing game Jewel of Arabia: Dreamers, a favorite among RPGers for its rich story and keen graphics. Rounding out the pack is Gérard Brochu's Romi, an implementation of the classic card game Rummy.

An aside to shareware authors: Got a game you want featured? eMail Dan Daranciang at dan@imgmagazine.com with the details. [Daranciang]





Marathon Infinity Goes Back in Time with New Technology
Are you sick of those two maps in q3test? Do you miss your SPNKR? Well Bungie.org has announced a new pack of levels for Marathon technology which boast some significant improvements in the game's engine. Here's the cut & paste:

The Battle Cat's World Tour NetPak is now available for download at bungie.org. These net maps are based on the great battles of World War II. Kinda sorta. Named after them anyway for sure. See for your self what that big fuss 60 years ago was all about. Now you too can die retching with pain in hostile foreign countries at the hand of pitiless mercenaries. Scramble frantically to reload as you fight your way across the Arnhem bridge made famous in the movie, "A Bridge Too Far". Become a permanent sidewalk shadow in Nagasaki. Fight a desperate house to house battle in Berlin. Rediscover the heartbreak of Anzio or relive the triumph of the Battle of the Bulge. Then take a break and knock back a case of Tree Frog beer in Thom's Trailer.

And now as promised, introducing in these maps, "the Battle Cat's Split Poly Technology". The '3 texture on one wall' barrier has been broken! Now you may not only stack polys up like hot cakes, you can put them on never before possible places. Over or under doors or entrance ways, inside AND outside of bridges, on walls not connected to the ceiling, on platforms or doors, even have multiple textures on walls with normal windows. Look for these 'tricks' in this map pack. Not actually tricks, this is the real thing, a variation of the split poly, only putting multiple split polys on a single line, up to 9 high on one wall in 'Arnhem Bridge'. But many many more are easily possible.

There are many more applications of this new technology that I did not use, you can make ladders with it, make a door flush on a 2 WU wall open upwards with only 1 WU of texture moving, and the list goes on. Discover your own new uses for it.

This is a 7 level Marathon Infinity NetPak. Download it today at bungie.org.

As many avid Mac gamers will tell you - classic games never die! The fact that people are still developing for and playing Marathon Infinity, while pushing its engine to the limit and beyond, is a tribute to Bungie's powers of innovation which has more recently been demonstrated with Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth 2. Who knows what ripples Oni will send through the gaming community when the day comes? [Simon]





Mac Q3Test Playable on iMacs Too
Paul Jaquays of iD software updated his .plan today. In it, he stated that more mac users can play the Quake 3 test than thought before (me being one of them). He also apologizes for initially stating that the iMac could not run the test.

"We unintentionally slighted a "class" of iMac users by inferring that their machines would not run the Mac version of Q3Test. Jeff Fridberg politely pointed out (we are quickly discovering that the word "polite" fits many of our Mac testers) that there are 4 versions of the iMac: RevA, RevB, RevC and RevD. The configurations, and colors are:

RevA, Bondi Blue, Rage IIc, 233MHz
RevB, Bondi Blue, Rage Pro, 233MHz
RevC, Multicolor, Rage Pro, 266MHz
RevD, Multicolor, Rage Pro, 333MHz

So, if you are the owner of a RevB or later iMac, go grab the test and jump in fragging!!"

You can, as I have found out, play on most G3s with their built in Rage card. You won't experience nearly as many frames per second as say a Blue & White G3 but it is playable, just tweak the preferences and play around with it for a bit. You also can play Quake 3 with some Voodoo and Voodoo 2 cards, through a library employing Mesa GL (simulated OpenGL) technology, with this all Voodoo owners can utilize the power of their cards to enhance Q3Test's graphics. [Lawrence-Richards]





ChessWorks Updated
Mike Bailey this Friday released a new version of his networkable ChessWorks, designated 1.4.2. This version fixes a bug that could cause crashing.

If you're looking for an opponent, the author suggests that you plug your IRC client into an EFNet server and head over to #chessworks. It's a common meeting ground for ChessWorks fans. [Daranciang]





NetTron 2.0 Available
Interius Software has released NetTron 2.0. NetTron is multi-player
networkable arcade game remotely based on LightCycle, a game in the movie
Tron. [Deniz]

NetTron 2.0 (1.7 MB)